Sarah Rockwell
Reflection #2
Westerly High School
10/30/11
In Mr. O's college prepatory Biology class today, a lab was conducted on cheek cells. The lab was intented to have students swab their cheek cells and observe them under a light microscope. The students were to find the cells, draw them, and label the nucleus. While the Mr. O presented the lab and explained the directions, some students were paying close attention. A few others were staring off into space or doodleing.
After the breif explaniation, students went off into their groups and began the lab. While 3 of the 5 groups were deeply immersed in the lab, 2 other groups were engaging in unrelated conversations and ignoring their microscopes all together. Mr. O addressed this by walking over to the other groups and redirecting their attention back to the task at hand.
The classroom set up allows for Mr. O to access to all of the lab groups. The lab tables are arranged along the outer perimeter of the classroom. This enables Mr. O to walk around the room and visit each table.
Student engagement is very important to me. Being a student myself, I understand that learning is much harder if the professor is boring or if the subject matter is completely unrelated to any prior knowlege that I have. When students are in my classroom I want them to be excited to learn about the subject matter at hand. Some strategies that I will employ in my classroom include walking near students to ensure that they are on task, relating subject matter to my students' interests, and asking students for feedback during class discussion.
Reflection #2
Westerly High School
10/30/11
In Mr. O's college prepatory Biology class today, a lab was conducted on cheek cells. The lab was intented to have students swab their cheek cells and observe them under a light microscope. The students were to find the cells, draw them, and label the nucleus. While the Mr. O presented the lab and explained the directions, some students were paying close attention. A few others were staring off into space or doodleing.
After the breif explaniation, students went off into their groups and began the lab. While 3 of the 5 groups were deeply immersed in the lab, 2 other groups were engaging in unrelated conversations and ignoring their microscopes all together. Mr. O addressed this by walking over to the other groups and redirecting their attention back to the task at hand.
The classroom set up allows for Mr. O to access to all of the lab groups. The lab tables are arranged along the outer perimeter of the classroom. This enables Mr. O to walk around the room and visit each table.
Student engagement is very important to me. Being a student myself, I understand that learning is much harder if the professor is boring or if the subject matter is completely unrelated to any prior knowlege that I have. When students are in my classroom I want them to be excited to learn about the subject matter at hand. Some strategies that I will employ in my classroom include walking near students to ensure that they are on task, relating subject matter to my students' interests, and asking students for feedback during class discussion.